Siliguri, April 12: A leaflet versus an election campaign costing several lakhs - that is a contest Arabinda Ghosh is ready to face.
Ghosh, the Independent contestant from ward 15 for the Siliguri Municipal Corporation elections, says he will not indulge in wall-writing or noisy rod shows.
He has been distributing leaflets door to door in Ashrampara and Hakimpara that make up this ward of upper middle-class residents. Gautam Deb was expected to contest but backed out later after instructions from Trinamul.
Asked why he would not do the conventional campaign of road shows and graffiti, Ghosh said: "I feel it is time we candidates stopped doubting the intelligence of voters. They are aware of the candidates and will vote according to their preference. There is hardly any need to illustrate names of candidates and their symbols in a major way."
He said he wanted to end the "visual pollution, along with infusion of huge funds for such a micro-level election".
But Ghosh's campaigns were not always this stark. He has won ward 15 twice - 1999 and 2004 - as an Independent, but back then he had run a conventional campaign like any other candidate.
"It is a conscious decision on my part," Ghosh explained. "The civic poll in a ward is basically an election that covers only the locality where I live in. I know each of my neighbours, and altogether it is like a huge family. I find no reason to put up such publicity materials in the ward to apprise people about my candidature," he said .
"Many residents of my ward have appreciated the decision," Ghosh said.
Ghosh's campaign symbol is a stem and two leaves ( jorapata). His rivals are Maitrayee Chakraborty from Trinamul, Habul Ghosh of the CPI, Sudarshan Adhikary of the Congress and Raju Saha of the BJP.
According to a party source, Trinamul has spent more than Rs 3 lakh in each ward for the civic poll campaign.
Ghosh, 58, had contested as an Independent in 1999 and 2004 and had won in both the elections. In both these polls, the Congress, Trinamul and the BJP had supported him and did not field candidates.
In 2009, the ward was made reserved for a woman candidate. Ghosh , had then campaigned for Trinamul's Maitrayee Chakraborty, who won and was the councillor in the previous board.
However, when Trinamul's name figured the Saradha default, Ghosh left the party in June last year.
Ghosh said; "I don't think my decision to refrain from using festoons, banners and hoardings would reduce my visibility. I have printed a leaflet and I am going door to door, meeting every voter and handing the leaflet to them. In the leaflet, I have mentioned why I scrapped the idea of using other publicity materials. While walking for the campaign, we are just carrying a small placard showing my symbol, nothing else."
A senior academician, who lives in ward 15 of Siliguri, said Ghosh's USP was his simple lifestyle and excellent communication skills. "He knows the ward like the back of his hand. It would be no exaggeration to say that he knows each of his voters and maintains regular contact with them," the ward 15 resident said.
The academician added that Ghosh "can afford to shun the campaign plan of using publicity materials, unlike other candidates ."
A local Left leader said: "We appreciate Arabinda Ghosh's campaign strategy. However, we are competitors and I cannot say much on the issue."
